Hope exists in anti-knife crime work - campaigner

Mark Brindley, whose son James was killed in Aldridge in 2017, said he felt there was still hope in efforts to tackle knife crime

A campaigner whose son was killed in a knife attack says his fight against knife crime is not hopeless and called for more teaching around the issue in schools

Mark Brindley spoke to BBC Politics Midlands after the death this week of 12-year-old Leo Ross in a stabbing in Hall Green, Birmingham.

Mr Brindley, whose son James died in Aldridge in 2017, said Leo's death was "utterly shocking and tragic".

"My heart goes out to that little boy who's lost his life and his family and friends and the community," he said.

"We know exactly first hand what they're going through, it's terrible.

"The ripples just carry on through the rest of our lives, literally to the end of our days. We live with it, every day.

"But there is hope, I firmly believe that."

The West Midlands Police area recorded the highest rate of knife crime offences in England and Wales for the whole of 2023, according to official figures

Offences involving a blade per 100,000 of the population, in the force area in 2023, totalled 180, up from 167 in 2022. The London Metropolitan Police force total was 165.

Mr Brindley claimed educational programmes were proven to turn young people away from anti-social behaviour.

After his son's death, Mr Brindley set up The James Brindley Foundation, to address youth violence.

He said their educational programme had shown young people could be directed away from anti-social behaviour, once the motivations behind the behaviour were understood.

Leo Ross was stabbed in the stomach while walking home from school and later died in hospital

"We know that works because it's predictable and therefore preventable," he said.

"All the issues of getting knives of the street is really important but it should start with education as early as possible so young people don't fall into these anti-social habits and offending."

Mr Brindley said he wanted to see an anti-knife crime educational programme added to the national curriculum.

Saqib Bhatti said "we can't have sensitivities" around stop and searches by police officers

Labour MP Preet Kaur Gill and Conservative MP Saqib Bhatti discussed on the programme how they believed knife crime should be tackled in the West Midlands.

Both agreed more stop and searches should be carried out by the police.

Mr Bhatti, the MP for Meriden and Solihull East, said: "We can't have sensitivities around this. I think stop and search is a very valuable tool for the police and I certainly hope they're using that."

Preet Kaur Gill stressed the importance of youth services as part of a potential solution

Ms Gill, the MP for Birmingham Edgbaston, said the government wanted to employ more police officers to enable more stop and searches.

However, she added that this was only part of the solution, stressing the importance of intervention and youth services.

"Young people want somewhere to go which is safe, somewhere where they can have some hope of breaking the cycle, of not being exploited by criminal gangs," she said.

"We've got to take strict measures, we cannot keep having young people taking each other's lives. They've got to have hope, opportunity."

Watch Politics Midlands on BBC One in the West Midlands at 10:00 GMT on Sunday. The show will be available on iPlayer afterwards.